“During
this stage in his career Miles appeared almost obsessed with incorporating as
many disparate musical influences as possible, seemingly using anything or
anyone he could lay his hands on. The question has often been asked whether
Miles had a vision for the end result or was just randomly throwing things into
his cauldron, and was as surprised by the results as anyone else.
“I think that Miles definitely had a vision,” Dave Holland commented. “But
when you put together improvised music, you’re dealing with musicians and their
approach and style of playing. One of the things I learnt from Miles is that
you don’t come in with a fixed vision. The vision is there, but it is not
finished. The composition a classical composer writes is finished, and all
musicians do is interpret it. Improvised music is different. Part of your
palette is the musicians you’re working with, and so with this group it will
come out one way, and with that group it will come out another way. So if you
ask me, ‘Did Miles have a vision?’ I’ll say ‘Yes.’ But ask, ‘Did he know what
the end result would sound like?’ and I’d have to say ‘No.’ He couldn’t. When
he was putting something together, he was listening and selecting what he
liked. To me this is the great art of putting together improvised music. Miles
worked in the tradition where you create a form that’s clear, but that also has
enough room for the musicians to be creative with. Miles was giving us a
context for the music, and then we found what we could do within that context.”